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Saturday, April 20, 2024 - 07:59 AM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

A long time ago, before there even was a United States of America, we had a lot of angry folks living in what were then British Colonies.  One of them came up with a “catchy” slogan, and a lot of the other angry people thought that it made a lot of sense.  Eventually they got so perturbed that they revolted against the King and his political cronies, and established their own new country—the U.S.A.  You recall James Otis’  “slogan” that set them off, I’m sure:  “TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION IS TYRANNY”!  Indeed it was. 

Sad to say, taxation with representation (our present state of affairs here in the U.S.A.) has turned out to be an even greater tyranny than that which so upset our Revolutionary ancestors that they wrote our country’s birth certificate, our “Declaration of Independence”, and “threw the rascals out”.  I’d like to think that Americans of today would “learn from history”, or at least remember it, but I’m beginning to have my doubts, for we are, for all intents, a nation of historical illiterates, a sad state of affairs which has been deliberately induced by well known people throughout our history who were fearful of a highly educated  citizenry because HIGHLY INFORMED and ACCURATELY EDUCATED people are much more difficult to CONTROL!

A while back, one of my fraternity brothers sent me an interesting “math lesson” regarding taxes, and I’d like to share it with you.  It seems to have originated from a person named Barbara Edwards, but whether or not she was the primary author I can’t tell.  I’ve calculated the figures for updated accuracy. Let me quote a bit from her brilliant “lesson” regarding the mathematics of taxes.  She titled it:

 “THE MATH LESSON”

“The next time you hear a politician use the word, ‘billion’ in a casual manner, think about whether you want the ‘politicians’ spending YOUR tax money.  A BILLION is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective….

  • A BILLION seconds ago it was the year 1982;
  • A BILLION minutes ago it was the year 118 A.D, and the Roman Empire was still going strong.;
  • A BILLION hours ago our ancestors were living in caves in the Middle Paleolithic Age (approx.. 112,000 B.C.);
  • A BILLION days ago (approximately 2.8 million years ago) only primitive hominids walked on the earth on two feet (or, depending on your faith tradition, there was NO earth upon which to walk);
  • A BILLION dollars ago was LESS than three hours ago, at the rate “our” government is spending our tax dollars (plus all the dollars borrowed from our dear “friends”, the Chinese and Saudis).

While this thought is still fresh… let’s take a look at New Orleans.  It’s amazing what you can learn with some simple division.  Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (Big Spending Democrat), recently asked Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans’ hurricane damage.  Interesting number, but what does it mean?

  • If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans, every man, woman, and child would EACH get $516,528;
  • Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home would get $1,329,787;
  • Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.”

If our Revolutionary ancestors revolted against the English Crown over “taxation without representation”, what would they think if they knew what taxes the big spenders of BOTH parties in The District of Criminals & Corruption had foisted on Americans over recent decades:

“Building permit tax, CDL license tax, Cigarette tax, Corporate income tax, Dog license tax, Federal income tax, Federal unemployment tax, fishing license tax, Food license tax, Fuel permit tax, Gasoline tax, Hunting license tax, Inheritance tax, Inventory tax, IRS interest charges (tax on top of tax), Liquor tax, Luxury tax, Marriage license tax, Medicare tax, Property tax, Real estate tax, Service charge taxes, Social security tax, Road Usage tax (truckers), Sales taxes, Recreational vehicle tax, School tax, State income tax, State unemployment tax, telephone federal excise tax, telephone federal universal service fee tax, federal, state, and local telephone surcharge tax, telephone minimum usage surcharge tax, Other telephone taxes, Utility tax, Vehicle license registration tax, Vehicle sales tax, Watercraft registration tax, Well permit tax, Workers’ compensation tax.”  Some of these rip-offs are called “fees”, I suppose, but don’t kid yourself-- they ARE taxes!

Do you think our Revolutionary ancestors would have tolerated even ten of these taxes?  Or ONE?  With the exceptions of tariffs and perhaps local property taxes, none (or very few) of these taxes existed from 1783 to the early 20th century.  During this time the United States became the most prosperous and the freest  nation on earth.  We had very little national debt.  We had the largest (percentage-wise) middle class in the world.  Our families were intact, with moms at home to raise the kids and dads earning an income to support the family.  Credit was almost non-existent and was severely frowned upon.  People paid cash or did without (or in some cases bartered for their needs).  Local, state, and federal governments lived within their means and rarely did our government resort to deficit spending (except during wartime).  So what, exactly, happened to change a common-sense system into the chaos and huge deficits we have today?  In a few words:  POLITICIANS, and those behind the scenes in the shadows who control them!

The species known as “politicoccus deficiticus corruptus” (left wing progressive, big spending politicians for short) has been with us since ancient times, but it is the modern version, so prevalent in Europe and particularly in the U.S., that has cast serious doubts on the ability of any country that has been infected by the disease of deficit spending and ever-increasing borrowing and currency inflation to survive as a nation populated by free people.  The political malady of high taxes and endless increased spending by all levels of government seems to be a disease of our body politic with no end in sight.  Eventually the entire false edifice of “free everything” and “deficit spending ourselves rich”, so dearly loved by the socialist movements of 19th century America, and by the later Keynesian socialists and so faithfully practiced by our increasingly bloated federal leviathan ever since that despicable progressive socialist known as President Woodrow Wilson foisted two of the “planks” of The Communist Manifesto--the Marxist Federal Reserve “central bankingtyranny in 1913, and the Marxist 1913 Federal Income Tax “redistribution of wealth” constitutional amendment (16th Amendment) that were forced upon Americans, will come crashing down around all of us---which IS the goal of the progressive globalists who really run the economic and governmental systems of all of the major countries on Earth. This economic and societal collapse, if it occurs, will mark the end of our free enterprise economic system and will usher in, for those that survive the chaos and turmoil, a true Marxist/socialist tyranny—the long promised, but never delivered, “Heaven (Hell) On Earth” that always awaits the faithful proletariat fools who actually believe the “pie in the sky” promises of the “false gods” of progressive/socialist fairy tales.

The United States has an unfunded deficit of around 22 to 23 TRILLION dollars, upon which huge amounts of interest are being paid to the lenders of that financial folly—foreign governments and the banks of the PRIVATELY OWNED Federal Reserve System.  “Our” government is projecting an annual deficit by fiscal year 2020 of over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS—i.e. “our” government will spend one trillion more dollars than it takes in, and will have to borrow it from other countries, such as China, which is becoming a serious enemy, or will have to “borrow” it from future generations by printing more and more paper unbacked dollars from the PRIVATELY OWNED Federal Reserve Banks, thus raising the specter of runaway inflation.  High amounts of interest will still have to be paid to the robber barons of high finance for the privilege of printing all of that unbacked “fiat” money and “loaning” it to the U.S. Treasury, at interest, with vast amounts of interest paid to the government owned banks of our enemies.  What a great and profitable “racket” for the international bankers and globalists who really pull the strings of our national economy.

World history is filled with examples of the refusal of people to pay taxes that they considered unjust, from ancient Egypt to our Boston Tea Party of 1773, to the Whisky Rebellion of 1791-1794 (rightly quashed by President George Washington, because it was fomented by a group of pro-French Jacobin insurrectionists in Western Pennsylvania who, as President Washington himself wrote: “(labored) incessantly to sow the seeds of distrust, jealousy, and…discontent, hoping thereby to effect some REVOLUTION in the government…).  For the most part, Americans as a whole seldom launch significant protests regarding the high taxes they pay and don’t appear to be overly concerned over the dangerously high deficits being racked up by the bloated federal leviathan in the District of Criminals & Corruption.  “Eat, drink, and be merry, and tomorrow we’ll do it all over again”, seems to be the official mantra of our politicians of both parties.  Sometime soon that familiar “tomorrow” will no longer come and economic catastrophe will descend upon us.  I hope as a people we’re ready when that happens, but I doubt we will be.  Chaos and societal collapse may be “the history of our future” unless we, the American people, care enough to educate ourselves NOW about what the enemies of our freedom have been doing for decades to destroy our Constitutional Republic, and then DEMAND that our governments—local, state, and federal—abide by those demands and reinstitute the government that our Founders gave us!

 

WHLambBioMug2

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, W. H. (Bill) Lamb is a graduate of Cleveland State University (Ohio); being graduated in 1960, he moved to South Carolina in 1964.  For many years he was an Industrial engineer, Chief Industrial engineer, and plant manager in the steel, electronics, and apparel industries in Ohio, South Carolina, and Alabama.  In his younger days, he was an avid hiker in the Southern mountains, a target shooter, and is still an avid student of both American history and ancient Egyptian history.

He is an avid and long-time writer, concentrating on political and cultural issues of concern to America's Christian Patriot community.  He was published in the Lancaster, S.C. "News" during the mid-to-late 1960's, and has been a Local Columnist published in the Greenville, SC The Times Examiner since 1999.  The late and great Christian Patriot, Col. Bobby Dill, was his first Editor. During those years he has had several hundred articles published in The Times Examiner, which he always refers to as "a great journal of truth"!  

He has had one book published, a 120-page novel set in our future, titled "The History of Our Future", and two unpublished  750-page sequels "Waiting in the Wings" to be published "someday".  Bill has been married to Barbara for 65 years, has two adult  (and aging) kids,  five grandkids, six great-grandkids, and a "feisty and opinionated" 80 lb. Pit Lab named Hayley, who admittedly runs the entire house.

A very long-time member, with Barbara, of The patriotic John Birch Society, he believes that it is the duty of ALL Christians to also be dedicated patriots and do everything possible to both resist the evil of collectivism that is smothering Western Civilization and to do his best to educate and motivate his fellow Americans in the preservation of our unique Constitutional Republic, and most importantly, to share the love of his Savior with others.